They actually did change the wording on his buff, slippery. And as far as I know, the apprentice gets the same Fire Thief buff that the Master Smith has, Salv.
ran all 3 today since they got unlocked on my server (or by ran I mean zoned into them all and took a few pulls). it doesn't seem to be very chanter friendly from what I saw as others mentioned the resists mostly. but than again I wasn't really with a healer that was dpsing. but for a chanter I would think Abyssal Aqueduct would be easiest, than Furnace and than the RT color blocks zone